Religious sites

The late parish church of the Lady of Krasno is situate on a clearing of the Velebit mountain, near the village of Krasno. It is a pilgrimage site, the most famous sanctuary of the Madonna following the Trsat one in the Rijeka-Senj arch-parish.

The present pilgrimage church of the Lady of Sinj located in the town of Sinj in the Cetina district was initially built in the 17th century.  The old painting of the lady of Mercy that is presently venerated in the Sinj sanctuary is the work of an anonymous artist dating to the end of the 15th century. Pilgrimages occur throughout the summer, especially on Great Madonna day.

Vepric near Makarska - the main religious festivities occur on the 8th and 9th of October.

Aljmas, with the famous shrine of Our Lady of Sanctuary, or Our Lady of Aljmas, is situated on the tri-border area of Slavonia, Backa and Baranja. It existed until September 1991, when it was completely destroyed. Even so, the figure of Our Lady was preserved in the ruins and after its refuge in Osijek it was returned to Aljmas, where it has been a focus of pilgrimage. Pilgrimages attracting the greatest numbers occur on the occasions of Assumption Day and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

Non-Marianic Sanctuaries: Dubrovnik - St. Blaise Day is celebrated on the 3rd of February; the sanctuaries at the islands of Hvar and Korcula are visited by pilgrims from Palm  Sunday to Easter.

Marija Bistrica - the shrine of the Mother of God in Croatian Zagorje, is some 40 km distant form Zagreb. It is the most ancient and most famous Croatian Marianic sanctuary, a votive place and pilgrimage site housing a miraculous statue of Mary and Jesus that is visited by several hundred thousand pilgrims every year. The church was mentioned in 1334. The entire complex bears the spirit of central European "historicism".

Pilgrimages last from the Ghosts to the Small Madonna. Marija Bistrica has an old Marian shrine which is a famous place of pilgrimage. On October 3, 1998, Pope John Paul II visited Marija Bistrica and beatified the Croatian Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac.

Votive Statue The votive statue the Mother of God of Bistrica dates from the end of the 15th century and belongs to the series of black Madonnas, althought as it was discovered during the restoration its dark colour is not original. The late Gothic wooden statue of the Bistrica Mother of God is the work of an anonymous master. The expressive strenght of this statue is less in the artistic achievement than in its very religious and national significance. The statue was firstly placed in the ancient shrine at Vinski Vrh in 1499, and then it was buried in Marija Bistrica in 1545 and rediscovered in 1588. It was forgotten again and walled in, then refound for the second time in 1685. 

Trsat - The parish church of St. George that was erected in the 13th century is located on the Trsat hill in the city of Rijeka. A Franciscan Monastery and the church of Mary of Lauretania, the sanctuary of the Merciful Mother the Lady of Trsat is situated on the adjacent hill. It is the most famous Croatian Marianic shrine and one of the oldest in all of Croatia. 561 steps lead uphill to it from the Rijeka city center. Pilgrimages occur all throughout the summer, especially on the Great Madonna day.

THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF TRSAT AND THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY

The Frankopan Square situated in the very heart of Trsat 443 ft (135m) above sea level is the place where the oldest Croatian church of 'the Holy Virgin' is. According to legend this seven- hundred year old sanctuary was carried over from Nazareth to Trsat by angels on the 10th May 1291, but then afterwards to Loretto in Italy on the 10th December 1294. The citizens of Trsat were inconsolable due to the loss of the Holy House so Pope Urban in 1367 sent them the 'Miraculous Painting of the Holy Virgin'. The Frankopans first built the church of 'the Holy Virgin', which was later enlarged and also had a monastery attached. In 1641 the church and the monastery was restored by Nichola V. Frankopan. The monastery and its Treasury contain art works of extraordinary aesthetic and material value: paintings, manuscripts, marble altars, reliquaries, candle-sticks, chalices, church-garments. These gifts, given to the church from the 19th century on, can now be seen in the Votive Chapel. There are many famous works of art such as: altar paintings of St. Michael, St. Catherine, St. Nicholas by the franciscan Serafin Schon from Switzerland. The franciscan monks living in the monastery have guarded both it and the church for more than five centuries.

THE CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE

if you go from the Frankopan Square north-west along Petar Zrinski Street you will come to the Church of St. George built in the middle of the 13th century by the lords of Krk, who later called themselves the Frankopans. The church is mentioned even in the Vinodol Law of 1288, which is one of the first and most important judicial documents of medieval Europe. In the church are the altars of St. George, St. Sebastian and the Holy Virgin of Carmel, with chapel of St. Desmund attached. 

Međugorje is a village in the Herzegovina municipality of Čitluk, today part of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has become famous because of a series of alleged sightings of the Virgin Mary by six young people. It should be noted, however, that the Catholic church has not approved these apparitions.

On June 24, 1981, at about 6pm, six young parishioners from Medjugorje: Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic, saw on the hill Crnica (on the place called Podbrdo) an apparition, a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach.

The next day at the same time, June 25, 1981, four of them, Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic and Ivan Dragicevic, felt strongly drawn towards the place where, the day before, they saw the One who they had recognised as Our Lady. Marija Pavlovic and Jakov Colo joined them. The group of Medjugorje visionaries was formed. They prayed with Our Lady and talked to Her. From that day onward, they had daily apparitions, together or separately. Milka Pavlovic and Ivan Ivankovic have never seen Our Lady any more.